Whatever level of experience in genealogy we might carry, there is a unanimous desire to visit the land of our ancestors. Those who have traveled to tour sights associated with their family history find it extremely moving. I myself descend from Irish families on my mother’s side. When I visited in Ireland in 2008 for non-genealogical purposes, it proved to be a very inspirational experience. So much so, that when I returned to United States, I basically hit the ground running to do genealogy. This led to much of my experience with Irish genealogy.

There are many people who know they have Irish roots and would like to know their ancestor’s townland of origin. It strengthens and adds a more personal connection to family history. Unfortunately, there’s a misconception among some that finding Irish origins is almost if not entirely impossible to obtain. It was never impossible and as of today, it’s easier then ever.

Before heading across the pond with your research, you need to be equipped with the knowledge of where your ancestors came from in Ireland. This might present researchers with the healthiest challenge. With that in mind, you have to undertake exhaustive and careful research. To explain this in detail would be in the scope of another post, but once the research is able to document with some accuracy where they came from in Ireland, you can begin to work with the Irish records. Ireland has made many genealogical records available online at no cost and the following list of websites are useful in propelling you back to your Irish homeland.

In 2015, the National Library of Ireland completed a digitization project of Roman Catholic church registers from the earliest available up to 1880. Even though these records are indexed on various other databases, you can use the NLI’s website access the images of these records and browse through them. Ministers recorded baptisms, marriages, and burials for their parish. The availability of records by parish varies greatly and many do not start until the 19th century because of Catholic Penal Laws.

Fig 1. Baptism register of My 3rd great-grandfather John Oliver, son of Bartholomew Oliver and Catherine Mannion. He was baptized 2 May 1826 in St Nicholas West Parish, Galway. The sponsors were Bernard Lyness and Celia O’Dougherty.

NAI’s genealogy website is among my favorite because of the diversity of collections and access to images of all the records. Among the available databases include:

1901, 1911 and pre-1901 survivals

Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837

Valuation Office house, field, tenure and quarto books 1824-1856

Calendar of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1922

Diocesan & Prerogative Wills, 1595-1858

Diocesan & Prerogative Marriage License Bonds, 1623-1866

Catholic Qualification & Convert Rolls, 1700-1845

Shipping agreements and crew lists, 1863-1921

Essentially, they have digitized most of their important genealogy collections they have. Each collection is searchable with multiple fields. Many of these collections, such as the pre-1858 wills and related will calendars, are based on a gathering of resources to reconstruct the immense loss from the Public Record Office fire in 1922. Only a small fraction of the wills and pre-1901 census records survive, but even if your ancestors left in the famine-era, it’s good to check the 1901 and 1911 schedules for descendants and Irish continued to emigrated well into the 20th century. For those who have located their ancestors in Griffith’s Valuation (searchable at askaboutireland.ie), the valuation office books are a useful source for historical research about living conditions in 19th century Ireland. Griffith’s was essentially a census of landowners and leasers conducted for the purpose of taxation and are in most cases, the only comprehensive census available for pre-famine Ireland. Griffith’s Valuation at least puts our ancestor in a time and place, but the addition of the Valuation office books can add more detail. With the house books, I learned the exact dimensions of my ancestor Bartholomew Oliver’s house on Fish Quay in Galway. It also stated the worth of his household items and the fact he had a small garden, but no yard.

Ireland began unilateral civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths in 1864, with the exception that non-Roman Catholic Marriages began in 1845. These records are among the most genealogically informative in Ireland and because of irishgenealogy.ie, administered by Ireland’s Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, many of the indexes and images of these records are available for research. This is a huge development for the online Irish genealogy, because traditionally you had to navigate civil registration records with the indexes, which only provide name, registration district, volume and page number. The availability of images with the indexes are not complete and at this time, the following range of years are available for Civil Registrations:

Births: 1864-1915

Marriages: 1882 to 1940

Deaths: 1891 to 1965

Fig 3. Death Registration of Bartholomew Oliver, 24 Mar 1900, Registration District Galway No.1. He died at his home on New Docks Street in Galway. His daughter Mary Josephine Oliver was present at his death, informing the registrar he was 79 years old, married, worked as a sea captain, and died probably of rheumatism. Mary visited the local registrar May 25th, two months after Bartholomew died.

If you want to learn directly from John Grenham, subscribe to Legacy Family Tree Webinars and tune in to his 5-part Irish Genealogy webinar course. You can also perform some great research on his immensely helpful website and use it as a waypoint to other resources. Locality research is as important to Irish genealogy as any other kind and John Grenham’s place name search is a great way to search for Irish townlands. Each townland listing provides the corresponding parish and civil registration district that encompasses it, leading you to the appropriate records for that townland and all neighboring ones within the parish or district. Even if your ancestor reported his townland of origin in certain genealogical sources, he may have actually originated from a neighboring locale. His surname search engine also gives background on Irish names and a distribution map of the surname in pre-famine Ireland, based on data from Griffith’s Valuation.

The websites explained in this post represent the essentials for getting started in Irish records, but there are also many others. You can find a more comprehensive list in my personal guide to Irish genealogy online. So relax in your shamrock PJs and follow your family history back to Ireland!

A couple months ago, I posted about finding Bartholomew Oliver’s ticket from the British Registry of Seamen through FindMyPast, an interesting document that showcases a glimpse of the shipping history in the British Isles. However, it was only a taste of the genealogy gold on my seafaring ancestor. Thanks to one of my cousins, I now have the Master’s Certificate for Bartholomew Oliver. Not only does it provide his date and place of birth, but includes details about all the voyages he undertook up to that time. Under the specifics of his service, it names the vessels, the capacity in which he served, and dates of the voyages. For me, it is a rich source of information and probes a few interesting facts about Oliver’s life.

This document confirms he was in fact master of the brig St. John which wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod in 1849. Previous sources misidentify Capt. Oliver or fail to mention his first name[1], but now I have source to confirm that Bartholomew Oliver was commanding this ship when it endured massive carnage and loss near Cohasset Bay.

I have a newspaper account to provide more details of his voyage on the Mariner, on which he served as First Mate from April 1842 to April 1844. The brig sprung a major leak and for days, Oliver and his crew had to funnel water out of the hull to keep it afloat, until an American bring John Baring encountered the Mariner and saved the crew. However, the crew of the John Baring were very much “jaded” after taking on the crew of the Mariner until it made it to port in New York 37 days later. The article states that the crew of John Baring sued Capt. Michaels for misconduct and “putting them on allowance”, which leaves me puzzled, considering as P. McDonough, master of the Mariner, said keeping his ship and its 23 men afloatwas acting in the “most humane way.” [2] Apparently, the seafaring life rarely caught Bartholomew Oliver any breaks or ease in his transit across the Atlantic Ocean.

Between both of Bartholomew Oliver’s maritime documents, there are discrepancies in his year of birth. His register ticket states it was 1818, while the master’s certificate is 1820, both sharing the day of May 1st.[3] However, the registers of St. Nicholas parish in Galway show a Bartly Oliver baptized on May 5th 1817 in presence of his parents Bartholomew and Sarah Oliver, so my inference is that Bartholomew was born 1 May 1817.[4] I am thankful the Catholic parish registers are now online, thus allowing me to make this discovery. There are other Olivers mentioned in these sources, so it will take some more time before I post about the Olivers of Galway and determine their exact kinship.

By the year alone, it would discount that Master Mariner Bartholomew Oliver is my 4th great-grandfather, but more likely a sibling of Denis James and John Bartholomew Oliver, the brothers who migrated to San Francisco, California. If born in 1817, he only precedes Denis by about 6 years and John, 12, which would be certainly too young to be the father. An important clue lies in the calendar of the will of Bartholomew Oliver, deceased 1834, who is also a mariner (described as pilot) and father of Bartholomew Oliver.[5] It could be very easy to confuse the generations and mix up these two as the same individual.

Letters of administration for personal estate of Bartholomew Oliver were granted by the probate court 5 Nov 1889 when he died 15 Nov 1834. Executor of estate is “Bartholomew Oliver of Galway Master Mariner the Son.”

I look forward to digging up more clues about the Olivers in Galway, how they struggled in the seafaring life and to maintain order in the harbor against ruffians known as men of the Claddagh. This is some rich family history not to be overlooked!

Researching Master’s and Mates Certificates

For those interested in researching these certificates, they are searchable through Ancestry.com on the collection, “UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927.” These certificates were first introduced in 1845 as part of the process of examination for men of these capacities, but were not fully compulsory until 1854. Bartholomew Oliver was inspected before 1854 because in 1850, inspection was required of master mariners and mates involved in foreign trade.[6] Originals of these certificates are held by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, UK. Copies can be made using this request form.

Few gestures are more grand than gifting a 350 pound brick of the world’s finest silver. In 1870, Pope Pius IX received a brick of Grade-A pure silver that took eight soldiers to lift and carry into the Vatican. The gift was bestowed upon Pope Pius IX by Denis J. Oliver of San Francisco, the brother of my 3x great-grandfather John Bartholomew Oliver, to show his adoration and devout faith to the Catholic Church. At the time, the brick of silver was valued at 1000 pounds and was 98% pure silver.

This stunning gift was not by any means a random act of kindness. Oliver’s present, along with others, came at a time when Pope Pius IX and the Papal authority were in a state of crisis. According to the article, these presents were received with “the intention of…assisting him to meet the extraordinary circumstances to which it has given rise, or of sustaining him against his enemies, the enemies of order and religion.” [1]

Pope Pius IX (1792-1878), born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferreti. He was the first Pope to be photographed. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Who are these enemies that are being referred to? It takes knowing some Italian history to understand the full context. When the pontificate of Pope Pius IX came to being in 1846, the country of Italy was controlled in large part by the Papal States, a set of provinces in the middle of Italy that were under sovereign rule of the Pope. However the sentiments of Italian citizens begin to change during Pope Pius XI’s reign. Nationalist movements swept all over Europe, dissolving long standing monarchies and Italy would experience much inner conflict and revolution during the pope’s reign. At times, the Pope was forced to leave Rome for his safety. When Denis J. Oliver’s gift was received by the Vatican, the Italian nationalists were gaining ground and several months later, the city of Rome fell to the Italian Army on 29 Sep 1870. [2] Perhaps Denis J. Oliver’s efforts to raise money for the Papal authority and military fell short, but would ultimately receive great admiration from Pope Pius XI. When four new bishops were canonized at the Vatican in 1881, Oliver was present wearing the Order of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Gregory the Great. [3]

Source: Findmypast.com

The article was extracted from a letter by Mr J.F. Maguire, MP, published originally in the Cork Examiner. Many newspapers throughout Ireland and the United States reprinted this article. Once again the Oliver family managed to make international headlines. The article describes Oliver as an Irishman from Galway, who left for New York at the age of seventeen, and after working hard at business in New York City for several years, was “induced to try the new region opened up to hope and industry.” This region of hope and industry was specifically California and while others “toiled and sickened, or died in search of gold,” Denis J. Oliver rose to amass great wealth after “twenty years of honorable industry.” [4]

By any standards, this is no small gesture and one can only imagine having such a gift bestowed upon them. It was a great risk to send the 350 pound brick of silver 8000 miles from San Francisco to Rome. Whether it made the journey entirely by ship or partially by land through continental Europe is not clear. Regardless of the risk in sending such a valuable item, where an array of possible disasters could have sabotaged the present, Denis Oliver remained firm and convicted in his duty to protect the interests of his church.

It’s easy to imagine the Oliver family anxiously, but proudly awaiting to shake hands with President Theodore Roosevelt. They were surely stimulated by the fanfare and bombastic music of the marine band proceeding along side them. The diary of my great-great grandmother, Kate, provides one account of the event, while another comes from her husband B.P. Oliver’s exchange with a New York Reporter, highlighted in an article on the front page of the San Francisco Call. The Oliver family spent five days enjoying the national landmarks in Washington D.C. and were well accustomed to the traveling lifestyle. The occasion that brought the family to the White House was a convention for the American Banker’s Association held on 8 Oct 1905 in the White House.[1] On that day, the Oliver family arrived at the president’s home and first proceeded through the hall where portraits of former first ladies grace the walls of the White House.

Led by the youngest child, that being six year old John, the Oliver family lined up to shake hands with Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt. One by one, the Oliver children and their parents were cordially greeted by the President and his wife. When B.P. arrived to shake hands with the president, Roosevelt exclaimed, “And these are Olivers!” to which Mr. Oliver answered, “Yes! Mr. President, but you have not met them all yet, there are eight of them.” Roosevelt replied with enthusiasm, “Eight!” and in a very enthusiastic manner, proclaimed, “My, that is fine. I propose three cheers for Mr. Oliver.”[2]

Theodore Roosevelt laughing.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Without quite understanding what the president proclaimed cheers for, the rest of the bankers in the hall took after the president and gave their three cheers as instructed. Why was the president so delighted to meet the Oliver family and share his excitement? B.P. Oliver told the reporter that after the whole family shook hands with the president, Roosevelt said, “Well, well; you are to be congratulated. This a family after my own heart.”[3] Slight discrepancies arise from the account in Kate’s diary, who claims that a friend identified as “Mrs. Power” commented that after the Oliver family had passed on into the reception hall, Mr. Roosevelt commented that “we were a family after his own heart.” This delighted Kate very much, prompting her to write in her diary, “I felt so elated, as if I had been born in this moment.”[4]

Bartholomew Patrick and Kate Connor Oliver.

Source: Author’s Archives.

B.P. Oliver owned a large real estate company named “B.P. Oliver Inc.”, which had it’s headquarters at 100 Montgomery Street in San Francisco. B.P. Oliver and his uncle Denis J. Oliver were very influential in the Irish-Catholic community of San Francisco, causing one historian to even draw comparisons to the Kennedy family[5] They were very much considered part of the establishment in San Francisco’s early history for their contributions to the church and the city’s development.

About a week after the convention, B.P. Oliver spoke with reporters in New York City where he recounted the details, leading to article on the front page of the San Francisco Call, published 16 Oct 1905. Surely, the wording and exact details of the interaction do have discrepancies between Mr. Oliver’s account in the newspaper and the diary of Kate Oliver written some years later, but they both make it clear that the president was delighted to meet the Olivers and saw a positive reflection of his own family in them. Mr. Oliver admits to the reporter that he was taken aback by Roosevelt’s enthusiasm, for he could tell that the other bankers did not quite understand what the cheers were for. In any event, B.P. saw that it was the president’s way of delivering a huge compliment:

“The call was heard all over the reception room. The surprised bankers who stood around did not know what was going on, but gave the cheers, anyhow. I felt as first as though I would rather be most anywhere else, but in a moment I concluded that it was a fine compliment and proceeded to feel elated.”[6]

San Francisco Call, Monday, 16 Sep 1905.

Source: California Digital Newspaper Collection

This certainly was a great day for the Oliver family and I’m happy to be sharing this moment in our family history to readers.

[1] Articles in Washington Times and Evening Star provide many details about the activities and programs during the convention. See Library of Congress, “Chronicling America”: accessed at http://www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

[2] Kate Oliver’s diary remembers the language of the event somewhat differently. According to Kate, When B.P. arrived to shake hands with the president, Roosevelt exclaimed, “And these are Olivers” to which Mr. Oliver answered, “Yes! Mr. President, this is my wife and eight children.” Roosevelt, in a very robust manner, shouted, “Bully! Here are three cheers for the Oliver family!” See Shelby Pike, ed. “Diary of Kate Connor Oliver,” p. 40: accessed at https://fletcherfamilytree.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/diary-of-katherine-connor/

What I found serves as a great example of how records related to seafaring occupations can be implemented in genealogical research. This post is a bit overdue, considering the research had been undertaken over a month ago, but I am still quite astounded with how much information I have located on Bartholomew Oliver through the databases on FindMyPastTM. Particularly wonderful is the record located in the image below, Bartholomew’s seamen ticket filed at the Central Registry of Shipping and Seamen. According to the database description, men like Bartholomew who were sailing in the United Kingdom during this time period, 1835-1857, had their information compiled into a register by the central government in England so that the Royal Navy had information on merchant seamen who could potentially serve active duty. Before 1835, there was little interest from the central government in the activities of seafarers in the commercial maritime world.[1] The records featured in this post were located specifically in FindMyPast’s database, British, Merchant Seamen, 1835-1857 which compiled volumes from the National Archives (UK) Record Series BT112, 113, 114, 115, 116, and 120.[2]

Names and ticket numbers for each seaman have been compiled into an index, organized alphabetically by surname. These tickets provide a name and description of each sailor, and I was delighted with the information and genealogical profile given for Bartholomew in this record. He was asked to give his town and county of birth along with exact birthdate. The ticket required information about his maritime service, including any time spent in the Royal Navy or Foreign Service, as well as where he resides when unemployed. The ticket also provides a physical description and notes he went to sea when he was 14 years old and rose to the rank of first mate. Amazing!

I had to dig a little deeper to find out more about these records, particularly because some information, such as unknown abbreviations and series of numbers, appear on the documents.

Image 2. Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Register of Seamen, Bartholomew Oliver, National Archives volume no. 112, piece no. 51: accessed at British, Merchant Seamen, 1835-1857 (online database, findmypast.com). The register records on the same line the voyages of two different men named Bartholomew Oliver, one born in 1815 in Galway and 1822 in St. John, New Brunswick.

Record keeping practices in the maritime world, I have learned, are more confusing than most, and in this instance, it proves no exception. Finding aids created and compiled by archivists, researchers, and volunteers, are a “Hail Mary” when it comes to understanding the content, administrative practices, and especially the peculiarities or missing items in these records. I would highly recommend, if you want to learn more about these records, to view The National Archives (UK) page, “Merchant seamen serving up to 1857: further research.” This page provides some great diagrams identifying each character and series of number used in these registers of seamen. In regards to voyages, the numbers refer to different codes used for ports within the U.K. A table of these port codes is available on another National Archives (UK) page, “Abbreviations – Merchant Seamen Records.” Because information on voyages in these records is from articles of agreement and crew lists, it is safe to say there is more to the paper trail.

This piece of research explains the process of finding certain records and would be of interest to anyone researching the Irish. The report focuses on new techniques, searching for individuals in an urban population, and different types of Irish records.

The records found reflect the character of working class Ireland in the 19th century; rough. The records belong to one of the more interesting individuals I have encountered in my six plus years of genealogy, a man called Captain Bartholomew Oliver who lived in the City of Galway. I have posted about him greatly before and the pdf link provides a complete list of supplemental blog posts. As to intrigue readers, I wanted to spend a little time talking about the Petty Session Court Records of Ireland, available at findmypast.com

Through my own research on findmypast.com located multiple incidents involving Capt. Bartholomew Oliver in the Petty Session Court Books. Ireland instituted a court known as the Petty Sessions from 1827-1924, which handled smaller incidents, much like the small claims court of America. The summons provide quality details about the famed Capt. Oliver that might have go unnoticed and seem to somehow fit with what appears on paper to be a tumultuous life.

Fig 1. On 20 Mar 1862, Bartholomew Oliver brought Stephen Joyce from Arran Island to court for piloting a ship without a license, specifically the “Elizabeth Ann of Sunderland”, thus disputing Captain Oliver who was able to prove his certification and offered to pilot said ship. The defendant was apparently dismissed on merit.[1]

Fig 2. Oliver is back in court again on 12 Oct 1864, this time for money. Robert Barclay owed Oliver two hundred pounds for salvage services performed four days prior on Barclay’s ship called “Nora” from Liverpool. The defendant did not appear in the court.[2]

Fig 3. Bartholomew Oliver was unlawfully assaulted by William McDonough of Galway on 29 Oct 1883 at the Galway Rouds [?] while on board a barque called Mars [?] of Glasgow. McDonough did not appear in court.[3]

These are only a few samples of what I uncovered. Please click on the link to read the full report.

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≈ Comments Off on Bartholomew Oliver, father of Capt. Oliver, in Calendar of Wills and Administrations

I went to National Archives of Ireland website which holds some excellent online records. I went to the Will & Testamentary Records looked up the surname Oliver in County Galway, and got impressive results. I moved to the will/probate records and found Bartholomew Oliver. More evidence is needed to confirm Bartholomew Oliver gave birth to Capt. Bartholomew Oliver as well as Denis James and John Bartholomew.

At NEHGS, I talked to Marie Daly, who is the resident expert on Irish Families and told her how I found Bartholomew’s children’s baptisms and an index listing in the Griffith’s Valuations. He was listed as being in Fish Quay townland in Galway City.

Marie was very helpful and walked me through everything and had tons of suggestions. Luckily, NEHGS had the full Griffith’s Valuations on microfiche and so I was able to get all of the information.

The record states Bartholomew Oliver lived at Fish Quay at the intersection of Flood Street, his house was worth 8 pounds, which Marie said was a lot and lived most likely in a two-floor middle class home. Marie then mentioned the ordinance maps that Ireland did for these tax valuations in the late 1830s, they also had those on microfiche. After shifting the fiche around we found fish quay and she determined a…

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Thanks to Professor Bryan Lamkin for conducting this research while he is on his tour of Europe. These are the original baptism records of my 3rd great-grandfather John Oliver, and his brother Denis James Oliver.

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I have been given permission to post this incredible piece of my family history and for that matter, a small slice of our nation’s history. My cousin scanned the entire diary of Katherine Francis (Connor) Oliver, my 2nd great-grandmother, which she gave to her children in 1931. The diary is a biography and provides many anecdotes of her travels, Here it is for the world to see. Enjoy!

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After a day of volunteer work down at the TIARA (The Irish Ancestral Research Association) in Newton, I received a copy of my newsletter, which had an excerpt of my blog in it. It was an article written on their Galway Networking Event and I submitted to them a blog post I did on the event.

To see the original post, click here .
To see the newsletter in which I was published, click here .